UN agencies distribute LPG stoves to Rohingyas

A major environmental project to provide around 250,000 families with liquid petroleum gas (LPG) stoves and gas cylinders has been launched by UN agencies and Bangladesh government in Cox's Bazar to help prevent further deforestation linked to the Rohingya crisis.

At the official launch of phase one of the project yesterday, over 300 local villagers identified by local officials as extremely vulnerable and in need of support, were the first to receive stove and gas sets. Thousands more will be distributed to Rohingyas and other host community families over the coming months, an IOM press release said.

The alternative fuel initiative is being organized by the UN Migration Agency (IOM), UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), working closely with Bangladesh's Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MODMR) and Commissioner of Refugee Repatriation and Relief (RRRC).

Cox's Bazar was home to significant areas of protected forest and an important wildlife habitat. But the arrival of over 700,000 Rohingyas fleeing violence in Myanmar over the past year led to massive deforestation as desperate families cut down trees and cleared land to make space for makeshift shelters.

With Rohingyas and many local villagers almost entirely reliant on firewood for cooking, that damage has continued, and forest is being cleared at a rate of 700 metric tonnes - the equivalent of around four football fields of trees - each day. If cutting continues at the current rate, the area's forest will be completely destroyed by the end of 2019, according to UN estimates.

"This is a vitally important project which will not only help mitigate and redress deforestation and environmental damage but will also play an important role in improving health and safety in the local and refugee communities," said Sanjukta Sahany, head of IOM's transition and recovery team in Cox's Bazar.

Smoke from firewood being burned in homes and shelters without proper ventilation is a significant cause of health problems, particularly among women and young children, who spend much of their time indoors. "By curbing the extraction of firewood from the remaining forests, it allows us to protect, re-enter and replant," explained Peter Agnew, FAO's emergency response coordinator in Cox's Bazar. He noted that the alternative fuel project is part of the wider SAFE Plus project, which is designed to improve economic livelihoods for host communities, and in turn overall food security.